The Witcher season 3 villain turned out to be a topsy-turvy roller coaster of twists. But don’t worry, I won’t be spoiling anything about the newest season of The Witcher. But instead, let’s talk about one of The Witcher season 3 villains, one that was wonderfully wily and evil, due to the immense talent of the actor who played him. The same actor was in House Of The Dragon season 1 and was absolutely wasted. And seeing him in The Witcher makes that fact even more glaringly obvious.
Please note that there will be some spoilers for The Witcher season 3’s first few episodes.
The Witcher Season 3 Villain Finally Gets To Shine
Through the first two seasons of The Witcher, Sigismund Dijkstra was a creepy and mysterious man who was pulling strings and doing some sort of conniving evil-ness. He appeared very rarely and when he did, it was always in the shadows and his actions were always shrouded in other motivations and weirdness.
We knew he was someone of some power, and that he was, like everyone else, on the hunt for Ciri (Freya Allen). But why and what his reasonings were, was always a huge mystery. But Dijkstra being The Witcher season 3 villain definitely shed a lot more light on who he is and what he wanted. Especially seeing the significance he got this season. And even more special is the actor who played Dijkstra, Graham McTavish.
Who Is Graham McTavish?
Graham McTavish is an amazing character actor and voice-over artist. McTavish’s credits include Aquaman, Outlander, Lucifer and many others. Some of his geek-creds include playing the voice of Dracula in the Castlevania series. Not to mention many video game credits as well. McTavish is an accomplished actor in his own right and a very recognizable one from his many appearances on popular shows and movies.
So when he was cast in HBO’s Game Of Thrones prequel, House Of The Dragon, I expected big things. McTavish played Ser Harrold Westerling, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard in House Of The Dragon. He was a very cool character, one of the few with honour and righteousness in a show full of morally and ethically ambitious characters.
How House Of The Dragon Wasted Graham McTavish
Despite casting such a familiar face in what seemed like a significant role, McTavish almost had no lines in all of season 1 of House Of The Dragon. While he was in many scenes, standing stoically in the background as events unfolded, he said very little. Besides one line of dialogue here and there, Ser Harold Westerling was mostly set decoration.
He had one significant moment where he stood up for what was right when the council was bickering over the rightful king. Ser Harold walked out saying that he will not participate in treason, but will serve the rightful King only. But besides that one scene, McTavish got nothing to do the entire season of House Of The Dragon.
The Witcher Season 3 Villain Proves His Worth
Whereas as a villain in The Witcher season 3, McTavish really gets to do a lot. As the Spymaster to the Northern Kingdom of Redania, Dijkstra was pulling the strings, along with his mage Phillipa (Cassie Clare) in order to position Redania as the strongest kingdom. Dijkstra was manipulating everyone from the Brotherhood to other kingdoms and even his own king.
The complicated dance of treachery and deception that Dijkstra was choreographing was incredible to watch unfold. And McTavish played the character with equal parts creepiness and intensity. But this great villainous performance in The Witcher season 3 further pointed out what a terrible waste the actor was in House Of The Dragon. McTavish is not the calibre of actor you get to just stand in the background of scenes with nothing to do.
And while I might hope that he’ll have more to do in season 2 of House Of The Dragon, the character in the books died off much earlier than his depiction in the show. So, even though they might veer away from the books to have him show up in season 2, the chances feel unlikely.
The Witcher season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
What did you think of Graham McTavish in The Witcher season 3? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter at @theshahshahid.
